The House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology has just completed two days of working through telecommunications deregulation issues. It remains to be seen whether committee members can come to a consensus on many of the issues before them, but the clock is ticking. Industry Minister Maxime Bernier has until April 6 to make a decision regarding the proposed variance of the CRTC's forbearance regime. One key area where the members might come to an agreement on is rural areas that might see deregulation under the proposed regime if the cable company enters the telephony market. Several small competitors told the committee that if the proposed regime is adopted they may not continue to expand their telephony services, meaning rural Canadians may never get to benefit from competition.

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